The Duck, Death and the Tulip

Death is always nearby, just in case. But it isn’t she who brings misfortune—it’s life... And, incidentally, life is also what brings good things: friendship, conversations, games, and the warmth that comes with them. It may seem a little strange, but as we get to know death, we also get to know life, and vice versa. That’s why talking about such things is a much better choice than hiding or running off somewhere unknown. The puppet theatre performance “The Duck, Death and the Tulip” seeks to reveal the importance of such conversations and introduce children to the end of life as a natural part of nature’s cycle, and as a necessary counterbalance to life.

The author of the book “The Duck, Death and the Tulip,” published in 2007, is the renowned German writer and illustrator Wolf Erlbruch. In 2006, he received the Hans Christian Andersen Medal, and in 2016 he won the most prestigious international children’s literature award, the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. “The Duck, Death and the Tulip” has been translated into more than 20 languages and, in 2018, thanks to translator Rūta Jonynaitė, became available to readers in Lithuania.

Jūratė Trimakaitė, a puppeteer working in France and Lithuania, is already familiar to audiences of “Lėlė” from the 2017 production “Direction,” staged in the Main Hall for adults and young people and nominated for a Golden Stage Cross. The same team that the director brought together for “Direction” is also creating this new production: set designer Cerice Guyon (France), composer Thomas Demay (France), and “Lėlė” actors Sigita Mikalauskaitė, Lijana Muštašvili, Asta Stankūnaitė, and Deivis Sarapinas. They are joined by actors Erika Gaidauskaitė and Elvyra Piškinaitė, and lighting designer Felix Battailon (France).

As the director of the production and puppeteer Jūratė Trimakaitė says: “When we talk about death, we are usually talking about life and its value. So, in staging this production, I wanted to show death as a natural process of nature, part of its cycle, and a change necessary for life. After all, if we didn’t complicate everything ourselves, we would find certain things much easier to get through and have far fewer phobias... What I like most about Erlbruch’s book is that it gives no answers: when we talk about this subject, all we can really do is reflect and discuss.”